Soaking Flash RAM in Liquid Nitrogen

A co-worker and I were discussing crazy things that could be done with liquid nitrogen when we started talking about cooling computer equipment.

Just for fun, I decided to stress-test some SD memory. I loaded up 2GB of files, "boiled" it in liquid nitrogen, let it re-warm, then read back the files and compared them to the original.

I'm happy to report that all the files were perfectly in-tact. It appears that Flash memory is pretty durable, at least around very cold temperatures. Of course, this was just for 20 minutes or so. I don't know what long-term storage would do.

It's also worth noting that not all electronics can stand this sort of abuse. A dollar-store calculator and wrist watch both emerged damaged. Both had missing segments from their LCDs and the watch had buttons that didn't work; however, the devices calculated and kept proper time. I suspect slowly lowering their temperature works better than just dropping it on the bowl like I did.